2009
Volume 9, Number 4, p.p. 161–166
Development of a hyperlastic finite element tool for modelling surgery of complex organs (membrane and underlying tissues)
H. Daanouni and Y. Tillier*
Mines ParisTech, CEMEF - Centre de Mise en Forme des Matériaux, CNRS UMR 7635, BP 207, 1 rue Claude Daunesse, 06904 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France
Nowadays, modelling surgery of soft tissues appears to be a promising and helpful way of predicting and teaching surgical operations. This work aimed at predicting the mechanical response of complex organs (composed of a thin membrane and underlying tissues) undergoing multiaxial loadings using a finite element code (VSurgeon3). This software was developed in our laboratory and is based on tetrahedron P1+/P1 elements and on a mixed pressure–velocity formulation. The constitutive equations used to represent the behaviour of the membrane and adjacent tissues represent hyperelastic models. Three different models (neo-Hookean, Mooney-Rivlin, and a third one (Fung) with a higher degree of nonlinearity) and a kill element method have been implemented in VSurgeon3.
Keywords: hyperelastic materials, kill element method, large deformation, multibodies